Vietnam War: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{| border="1" width="325" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" align="right" style="margin-left:1em;margin-bottom:1em"

!colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffff99"| '''The Vietnam War'''

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!colspan="2"| [[Military history of Australia]] [[Military history of New Zealand]] [[Military history of the Philippines]] [[Military history of South Korea]] [[Military history of the Soviet Union]] [[Military history of Thailand]] [[Military history of the United States]] [[Military history of Vietnam]]

The '''Vietnam War''' was fought from [[1957]] to [[1975]] between [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] and [[People's Republic of China|Chinese]]-supported Vietnamese nationalist and [[communism|Communist]] forces and an array of [[Western countries|Western]] and pro-Western forces, most notably the [[United States]]. The war was fought to decide whether Vietnam would be united under a Communist government, or would remain indefinitely partitioned into the separate countries of North and South Vietnam. The war ended in [[1975]] with a Communist victory and the unification of the country under a government controlled by the [[Communist Party of Vietnam]]. In [[Vietnam]], the conflict is known as '''the American War''' ([[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] '''Chiến Tranh Chống Mỹ Cứu Nước''', which literally means "War Against the Americans to Save the Nation.")

The '''Vietnam War'' or '''Second Indochina War''' ([[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]: known as '''the American War'''''' Chiến Tranh Chống Mỹ Cứu Nước''', literally the "War Against the Americans to Save the Nation") was a [[war]] between the governments of North and South Vietnam and their domestic and foreign political allies, to determine the status of a Vietnam as being indefinitely partitioned under the auspices of [[Western society|Western]]-allied [[dominant minority|minority government]] (sometimes referred to as a "[[democracy]]") or [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] and [[People's Republic of China|China]]-supported independence (often referred to in the U.S. as "[[communism]]").

~~The highly controversial and complicated war was fought from [[1957]] to [[1975]], ending with the unification of Vietnam under a government controlled by the [[Communist Party of Vietnam]].~~

According to most historians, the Vietnam War is best understood as rooted in attempt by the [[United States]] to reinstate [[European]]-oriented colonialism in the region. Spanning much of the [[Southeast Asia]]n peninsula, [[France]] had maintained its "[[French Indochina]]" colony since the late [[19th century]], only to be forced out by independence forces under [[Ho Chi Minh]] in [[1954]]. The [[Geneva Conference (1954)|Geneva Accords]] of [[1954]], signed only by France and the [[Democratic Republic of Vietnam]] (North), partitioned the country into North and South —France had done so still seeking to re-establish its colonial influence, while the DRV needed time to reinforce its position in the North.

The South would come under the control of the Europe-oriented [[Catholic]] [[Ngo Dinh Diem]] (pron. "Yim"), who in seeking European support became allied with the United States —now a "[[superpower]]" after the end of [[World War II]]. Regardless of his undesirable and ineffectual qualities, the U.S. supported Diem, and his rejection of the Geneva Accords' provision for holding democratic elections —both had recognized that Ho and his "communist" reforms were popular in the South.

With [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] and U.S. backing, the political conflict between independence-allied Vietnamese ("Northern") and European-allied Vietnamese ("Southern"){{fn|1}} became a central issue in the [[Cold War]]. The conflict was slowly but continuously escalated from the late [[1950s]] to the beginning of open hostilities in the early-mid [[1960s]].

==Overview==

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* [[Vietnam War casualties]]

* [[Weapons of the Vietnam War]]

~~== Notes ==~~

~~{{fnb|1}}~~

While the terms "North" and "South" are commonly used, they are often misnomers when applied in context. Regardless of the geographical boundary set by the [[Geneva Convention (1954)|Geneva Accords]], or the ideological differences between [[communism]] and "[[anti-communism]]",{{fn|2}} or the political labels of "communist" and "anti-communist" forces, the terms "North" and "South" refer almost exclusively to the ''governments'' of each —ethnicity, not ideology, was the primary boundary in defining who was allied with which government.

Most Southern Vietnamese were "pro-independence," just as the [[French Indochina]] occupation was unpopular with all but the European-allied elite. In the context of the U.S. allied South Vietnam government, being "pro-independence" was naturally synonymous with "anti-colonialist," "anti-Diem," and by default "communists" according to Diem and the U.S. From the U.S. point of view, "the [[enemy]]" were largely Southern-native "communist" (ie. anti-colonialist) [[guerilla]]s, referred to as "[[Viet Cong]]" —in addition to [[North Vietnamese Army]] forces in uniform.

~~{{fnb|2}}~~

While the [[United States]] had hoped South Vietnam could be referred to (at least in political [[rhetoric]]) as a "democracy" [[Ngo Dinh Diem]]s regime made this terminology difficult, and term "anti-communism" became a substitute. While this shift in rhetoric appeared to be substantial, it in fact did not have any bearing on the support the U.S. showed for South Vietnam, and hence became a central aspect for criticism during and after the war, as an example of where rhetorical claims of a "[[freedom]]" agenda, are alleged to have been a disguise for political and tactical strategies. (See [[Pentagon Papers]])

==External links==